Saturday, 19 May 2018

SPIRAL SKIES ~ BLUES FOR A DYING PLANET ..... review

Those of advanced years may remember a little combo going by the name of Curved Air, if you are in fact too young to recall them Curved Air were (and occasionally still are) a prog rock/folk hybrid fronted by a stunning vocalist named Sonja Kristina. Although Curved Air never really set the music world alight they did manage to garner a hit single in the shape of "Back Street Luv" (1971) which reached a quite respectable #4 in the UK singles charts. Now you may be wondering why Desert Psychlist is mentioning a 70's cult band in a review concerning a Swedish band formed in 2014, well the answer is simple Spiral Skies have picked up Curved Air's prog/folk baton and are currently running your way with it and if your not convinced then give their latest album "Blues For a Dying Planet" (AOP Records) a listen..

Desert Psychlist doesn't know whether Eric (bass), Daniel (drums), Jonas (guitar), Dan (guitar) and Frida (vocals) used Curved Air's mix of prog complexity and folkish whimsey as the blueprint for their sound or if they are even aware of their British counterparts existence but it is hard, if you've heard both bands, not to make a comparison. If ,however, you are coming to this review with no prior knowledge of Curved Air, or for that fact Spiral Skies, then your in for a treat on both scores.
Let's begin with the voice up front and centre stage of Spiral Skies sonic attack, a voice that carries with it imagery of floral dresses and straw hats yet is supported by a musical backdrop that screams black leather and spandex. Frida's vocals soar and swoop over the intricate and complex grooves executed beneath them yet you could not describe her vocals as ethereal or waif like, her strong powerful voice possessing a folky grittiness that is perfectly in tune with the retro(ish) grooves they decorate. Those grooves come at you from a good number of directions with stoner rock, hard rock and their well dressed cousin classic rock all represented here in one form or another, but it is that mix of prog and folk which is the overriding factor that pulls them all together. Jonas and Dan's guitars weave an intricate web of scorching Celtic flavoured solo's and harmonies, chunky powerchords and delicate arpeggios in and around Frida's vocals while underneath Eric and Daniel keep things grounded and on point with big growling bass and solid but flexible percussion, all five members combining to create a truly glorious, if not totally original, cacophony.

If the words Sweden, Celtic, harmonies and retro have not already got you reaching for the buy button for "Blues For A Dying Planet" then consider these words instead AWESOME, SUPERB and ESSENTIAL
Check it out ….

About Me

My name is Frazer (FDJ/Stonerking) and I am sole writer for stoner/doom and psych blog DESERT PSYCHLIST. I am not schooled in journalism, have no degrees and have very little knowledge of English grammer in fact I have no certificates of any description! The truth is I spent most of my formative school years not actually being there preferring instead to following bands around, going to gigs and travelling around the country to see my local football (soccer) team.

The reviews I write here are never going to be grammatically correct with punctuation in all the right places and nor will they be thought provoking and deep, sometimes they will not even make much sense to anyone other than myself but what they will be is from the heart. I want you the reader to feel the music that I love, share in my discoveries and in my disappointments and generally help me to promote the bands and the music that means so much to me. If you find something among these pages and posts that you like then follow the links and spend a few pennies supporting the artist. Lets give a little something back to those that give us so much.